Figuring It All Out
by callmemrsmiller
Summary: ONESHOT: Picks up where the finale left off. Nick doesn't want to give up on this either, he wants it to work but the reality is he has no idea how. He knows he needs to talk to Jess and figure this out but somehow things just keep getting in the way, including a frustrating sari, disapproving father and drug addled roommate. The LONG day one of Nick and Jess together.


**A/N: So this has been kicking around in my head since the finale and I originally wanted to use it as the first chapter in a story set over the summer with Nick and Jess figuring out their relationship but it just kept getting longer and longer lol so I decided to put it up as a LONG one-shot. **

**It's basically just the first 24 hours following the finale but I'm still working on the summer story as a follow up, hopefully will get the first chapter up soon.**

**I don't own New Girl. I'm not that lucky.**

* * *

Nick took his three right turns after they drove away from the hotel and then a few lefts and another right for good measure. Jess sat in the passenger seat and watched as the night scene of downtown L.A. rushed by, the biggest grin on her face. Lightly she brought her fingers to her lips; still hot from Nick's kisses only a short time ago. There was a part of her that still couldn't believe it; they were really going to try this, whatever this was between them. They had un-called it or more accurately Jess had tearily begged Nick to take it back, to un-call it and he had answered her the only way Nick Miller seemed to be able to communicate with Jessica Day, with a kiss. He hadn't actually said the words un-call it, he hadn't said any words at all but his kisses conveyed more words and truth than anything his mind could have come up with in that moment.

Jess's smile grew even wider at the memory of Nick grabbing her and pulling her to him so tightly, wrapping his arms around her as though he was terrified she might slip away. Suddenly Jess was brought back to the present moment as she felt Nick's coarse yet gentle hand snake around her shoulders, lightly rubbing the back of her neck.

"You ok Jess?" he asked softly, his eyes darting back and forth from Jess to the road. "You've been pretty quiet since we left the hotel…very un-Jess like…" he said his voice unable to conceal his nerves.

"I'm good. Just thinking Miller." She replied with a smile as she nudged herself closer to him.

Nick smiled back at her, reacting instantly to her movement he draped his arm around her; he continued to drive one handed as they cruised seemingly aimlessly around downtown.

Jess lent against Nick's chest, loving the feel of his body so close to hers, her fingers carelessly played with his loosened tie. She had decided she quite liked Nick Miller in a tie. Hell truth be told, she liked him in everything, even in that god awful Miami Vice wannabe suit from that morning he still looked so good.

"Hey Nick." She said still playing with the end of his tie. "Can I ask you something?"

"Mmm sure." He said, his free hand draped around Jess and lightly stroked her arm.

"Where the hell are we going?" she asked with a small giggle looking up at him.

"Honestly I have no idea." Nick let out a low chuckle. "You got any idea's Day?"

Jess laughed a little louder, "Hey you're the captain of this ship, I'm just along for the ride."

Nick nodded, ship was right, he really hated driving Jess's old Volvo it was so big and heavy. It really was like trying to drive a big old boat but tonight he didn't care.

"Ok, how about Mexico? Or Canada? Take your pick." Nick said shooting her a grin. "Or we could just keep driving and see where we end up." He said half joking, half serious.

The idea of getting away for a while, from the loft, from L.A., from Bob, with just Jess definitely appealed to Nick right now.

"Like in the movies, when they drive off into the sunset together, down some empty desert highway or down some amazing cliff top road." Jess said with a giggle.

Jess looked to Nick who had gone very quiet. She suddenly felt very worried, she hoped Nick heard the humour in her words and not that she thought this was actually their version of riding off into the sunset together. She studied his face for a moment, his brow was slightly furrowed and eyes narrowed, it was his concentration face, he was clearly thinking about something.

"Err Nick…" Jess asked.

Suddenly Jess was flung sideways in her seat as Nick swerved the car, doing a crazy brake screeching U-turn like they were fleeing from the cops in a Hollywood car chase.

"Nick!" Jess yelled over the noise of all the car horns honking at them as Nick now drove them down the opposite lane of traffic. "What the hell?"

Nick shot her an excited smile, "I know where we should go."

Jess adjusted her sari as she pulled herself back into the proper upright sitting position. "Well you coulda warned me before you went all Fast & Furious back there. So where we headed?"

Nick just gave her a shake of his head in response.

"Nick, c'mon where are we going?" Jess asked moving her body a little closer to his again.

Nick smiled at her movement and reached out for her delicate hand, giving it a little squeeze. "Trust me."

Jess opened her mouth to respond but there really wasn't anything she could say to that. So instead she let out a small sigh and lent her head against Nick's shoulder, not separating her hand from his.

They drove on in silence, not the awkward what the hell are we supposed to say to one another kind but the content and relaxed kind that came when two people were truly at ease with each other. They drove out of the hustle of downtown L.A. and joined the freeway towards Santa Monica, Jess kept her eyes fixed on their surroundings, determined to figure out where Nick was taking them. They drove through Santa Monica and then eventually on to the Pacific Coast Highway as the scenery changed from tall buildings and bright lights to the beautiful and picturesque California coastline. Even in the near pitch black of the night it was still breath-taking, the moonlight dancing across the ocean and the stars in the sky.

They had been driving for about forty-five minutes when Jess figured they were nearing their destination; Nick kept looking out the window, clearly looking for some sort of marker or sign. Of what Jess had no idea, there seemed to be nothing around them except the ocean on one side and dark green rolling hills on the other.

Finally Nick pulled the car off the main road, driving them down a pretty dusty and steep dirt road. Jess was glad she was with Nick right now because this was starting to look like the flashbacks of the murder victims in CSI. After a few more (slightly bumpy) minutes the car stopped.

"Here we are." Nick said softly in the dark as he switched off the engine as he looked to Jess.

Jess didn't answer him she just stared out of the car windshield her mouth literally hanging open as she looked at the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. Nick had taken her to a small secluded cove, encased by ragged rocks and a smattering of trees. The night ocean seemed to stretch out forever in front of them, the dark waves crashed and lapped against the rocks of the cove. It was amazing, even though they were only a little outside the city, Jess felt like they were a whole world away.

Jess jumped in her seat as she felt the car door open beside her, Nick held out his hand to her and Jess took it with a smile. Jess kicked off her shoes and jumped out of the car, Nick led her to the front of the car and they slid up onto the bonnet.

"Nick this is so amazing." Jess said as she clutched his hand in hers tightly. "How did you find this place?"

"I came here for a wedding a couple of years back, a guy from law school got hitched on El Matador Beach." He said pointing a little further down the coastline they had driven passed.

"I bet it was a beautiful wedding." Jess said thoughtfully, leaning her body into his.

"I think it was…I got kinda wasted…" Nick admitted. "Caroline was supposed to go with me but she dumped me like two days before so I wasn't in the happy wedding mood…"

Jess shifted at the mention of Caroline's name, she knew how much she had messed with Nick's head and heart over the years. She remembered Nick's photo booth meltdown from the wedding last year after Caroline revealed she had a new boyfriend. Nick, weddings and women didn't seem to go well together.

"After the ceremony I just sorta wandered off up the beach, just me and my buddy Jack…" Nick said.

"Jack?" Jess asked glad to be off the subject of Caroline.

"Daniels." Nick answered with a quick smirk which Jess returned. "Anyways I ended up here, I guess I fell asleep or passed out or whatever but I woke up and was like wow…"

Jess nodded, "It's really beautiful." She said looking out to the ocean, even in the dark of the night she could see how clear the waters were.

Nick wrapped his arms around Jess and pulled her close to his chest, his fingers ran through her messy pony tail, down her shoulders and arms, stroking her skin gently. Nick revelled in the fact that he could touch her like this, he had wanted to for so long. Jess eyes were transfixed by the beautiful postcard like scene before them but Nick couldn't take his eyes of her. Even though her hair and sari were a little muddled from their spectacular fall from the ducts and her eyes red and tired from all the stress of the day she was still the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

Nick couldn't believe that only a couple of hours ago he had actually walked away from her, or at least tried to. Thank god for Winston and his uncanny ability to appear at Nick's side and show him what an absolute fool he was. Nick had never been more grateful for his oldest friend than he was right now. What if Winston had never climbed out of that duct in the bar? Or worse what if Nick had realised his mistake too late and Jess had already left? The thought of how close Nick came to losing her was almost too much for him to take right now; instinctively he pulled Jess closer to him, almost as if he was checking she was really still there.

Jess looked up at him as he tightened his hold around her, smiling softly from dark hooded eyes. Her words from outside the hotel rang in Nick's ears; _I don't wanna give up on this…even if we don't know what this is_. Nick felt his chest tighten, there was so much he wanted to say to her, so much he needed her to know but he just didn't know how to say it. The truth was Nick was pretty sure he knew what this was; this 'thing' between them and that was what terrified him so much. Bob was right Nick wasn't good enough for Jess, he was a thirty-one year old mess, he had no plans or prospects for the future, he was childish, he was stupid, he was angry pretty much all the time but most of all he was selfish. Selfish because despite knowing all that, knowing that he would most likely be the worst thing that could happen to Jessica Day, he couldn't not be with her, he couldn't give up on this either.

Nick opened his mouth, wanting to somehow find a way to put all his conflicting thoughts into words, "Jess…"

But suddenly Nick words were cut off as Jess crashed her lips to his, her hands grabbed at the material of his dress shirt pulling his body even closer to hers. Nick immediately dropped his arms to her waist and gripped her tightly; Jess in turn moved her arms up, wrapping them around Nick's neck, opening her mouth to deepen their kiss. Nick couldn't help but respond to her actions, slipping his tongue inside her lips causing Jess to emit a low moan as his tongue warred with her own.

Jess moved her lips to Nick's jaw and neck, keeping one arm tightly hooked around his neck the other slowly raked down his hard chest and stomach until it settled on the growing strain in the pants of Schmidt's old suit, lightly she cupped him in her palm.

Her slow torturous like moments caused Nick's breath to hitch sharply, he closed his eyes and whispered, "Jess…maybe we shouldn't…" he stammered. "We need to talk…"

But as Jess continued kissing his neck and feeling his length in her hands Nick just couldn't quite bring himself to finish that sentence.

Jess broke her lips from his skin and smirked up at him, "After." She said lowly as she slipped down off the hood of the car.

She looked so small standing in front of him now, barefoot in the sand. Jess grabbed Nick's wrist and tugged him towards her.

"Jess maybe…" he said half-heartedly as he slid to the ground, still leaning back against the car.

Jess gave a little shake of her head, "C'mon Miller, I said I was gunna bust you…hard…" she said smirking up at him again, stroking her hands up his chest pushing her body against his. "And I'm nothing if not a woman of my word."

Nick grinned at her, what little gentlemanly intentions he may have had were gone with her body pushed up against his. In a stumble of frantic kisses and arms they stumbled backwards and collapsed in the back seat. Nick kissed Jess hard as his body pinned hers beneath him, her hands desperately fumbled with his tie. After having little success undoing the tight knot Jess opted to simply yank the damn thing off his neck, however it was still done up pretty tight.

"Argh…Jess…" Nick said through gargled breath as he broke his lips from hers. "You're kinda choking me…"

Jess let go immediately and blushed in apology. What was it with her and choking guys?

Nick cleared his throat as he managed to loosen the tie and whip it over his head.

"Sorry." Jess breathed in the dark.

He smiled down at her, tossing the tie in the front seat before he returned his mouth to hers once more. Jess moved her hands to the buttons of his shirt, she was much better at buttons than ties.

Nick's hands too sought the quick removal of her clothes, however it turned out a sari was a little more complicated than he was used to. He tugged at the outer layer of light blue material which was draped across her shoulder. This came away easily enough and then Nick was left with what he thought was just a top and skirt. But as he continued to tug and pull at the soft material he was only rewarded with more layers.

Jess however had been much more successful, having undone all the buttons on his shirt, exposing his bare chest to her she grinned, trailing her hands up and down Nick's hard abdomen, playing with the dark hair of his chest. Nick growled lowly at her movements as he still fought against the never-ending layers of blue dress which covered her. His face fell into a deep frown as he concentrated on freeing Jess's body; however he felt his concentration begin to blur as Jess moved her hand lower down his stomach, her fingers looping around his belt buckle. He was going to get this thing off her one way or another, his hands began tugging and pulling more roughly, the pink sequins scattered across the material scratched at his hands.

"Dammit Jess…" he murmured breaking his lips from hers, sitting up as much as he could in the limited room of the Volvo's backseat. "Are you sewed into this thing or what?"

Jess pushed herself up onto her elbows, her chest heaving, heart racing from the heat of Nick's kisses. She looked up at the man before her, bare chested, his shirt practically ripped open, belt hanging half undone whilst also wrapped in layers of blue and pink sequined material. Jess couldn't help but let out a small giggle at how ridiculous he looked right now.

"What's the problem Miller?" she said smirking at him. "You didn't seem to have this much trouble the other night?"

Nick glared down at her, "Well the other night you weren't wrapped up in a thousand layers of blue bubble-gum coloured freaking sheets!" he said running the loose layers of material through his hands, the sequins scratched him again. "Dammit I hate these things! Why do girls wear this stuff, it just hurts!"

Jess giggled again and Nick felt his anger at her frustrating dress evaporate instantly at the sound. Nick lowered his body back down onto hers and kissed her softly, his hands running up her sides, moving around the back of her shirt. Nick traced his fingers up the small scrap of material which covered Jess's chest, and discovered what seemed to be a never ending trail of tiny delicate buttons running down it. Nick let out a small groan against Jess's mouth. He just wanted her naked, now.

As if she sensed his thoughts Jess broke her lips from his and moaned, "Just rip it Miller."

Nick grinned at the impatience in her voice, loving that she was just as desperate as he was; he moved his hands to the back of her top but hesitated for a moment.

"Dammit man I'll do it." Jess literally growled at him as she lent up, her hands grabbed and pulled at the material of her top but to no avail.

Jess scrunched her face up in frustration as she continued to unsuccessfully try and rip the material open. Jess pushed her body up a little further to try again as Nick bent downwards, their heads collided instantly.

"Ow!" Nick said sitting back up, rubbing his forehead.

"What the hell Nick?" Jess moaned doing the same.

"I was trying to get that damn thing off you!" Nick yelled, struggling to find a comfortable way to sit amongst all the material and limited space.

"Don't yell at me Nick!" Jess said also struggling under the masses of blue material which surrounded them. "Ok you grab…no there…"

"Where?" Nick asked struggling to see where she was pointing to. "Wait…ok…hold on…" he said leaning forward once more.

Jess apparently didn't see him move and pushed her arm outwards, her fist violently connecting with Nick's left eye.

"Owwwwwwww!" Nick cried loudly jumping back.

Jess pulled herself up, so she was sat upright against the car seats beside Nick, pushing the layers of material out the way. "God Nick, I'm so sorry…are you ok?"

Nick let out a defeated sigh, "I don't think this is going to work Jess. I think we should call it." He said instinctively without thinking about the other meaning those simple words held between them.

Jess looked at him horrified.

Nick shook his head immediately, "No I didn't mean…I meant…we…" he stammered, his eye ached beyond belief Jess really did have one hell of an arm on her. "I meant the car…"

Jess let out a disappointed whimper. "But I wanted…"

"Bust me hard. I know." Nick said unable to stop the small laugh that escaped his lips. "And we will. Later…all over the loft."

Jess shot him a quick smirk in response.

Nick reached out and rubbed his fingers against her cheek. "It's ok Jess, we can wait."

Jess leaned into his touch, her eyes meeting his. "I think we've waited long enough Miller."

Nick knew she wasn't referring to sex; after all they only slept together two nights ago. She meant them, whatever was going to happen between them after tonight. Nick moved his hands to the back of her neck and guided her face closer, his lips brushed against hers.

His hand fell to her side and he encircled her wrist. "C'mon you're gunna miss what I really wanted to show you." He said pushing the car door open with his left hand whilst tugging at Jess with the right, before he added teasingly. "That is if you can keep it in your pants for five minutes Day."

Jess scoffed at his words and followed him out of the car. Once out and on her feet she managed to untangle herself from the mess of blue material so she was left in just her shirt and under skirt layer. Jess did a little twirl as she finished, sticking her arms out so as to say 'ta-da'. Nick just rolled his eyes as he fastened the buttons of his shirt, leaving a few at the top still undone. He led Jess back towards the hood, stopping quickly to grab his jacket from the front seat. As they slid back up onto the car hood Nick draped his jacket across her shoulders, aware the temperature had dipped a little and Jess was wearing at least twenty less layers now.

"So what are we looking at Miller?" Jess said shuffling in the comfortable feel of Nick's jacket around her.

"Just wait Jess." Nick said wrapping his arms around her lower back.

Jess scrunched her face up, "It looks the same as it did before. Beautiful but the same." She said with a quiet giggle.

She was right the scene before them was exactly the same as before, the air was a little cooler, the tone of the sky a little lighter, most of the stars had dwindled from sight but nothing major had changed.

"Just hold on will ya? God." He said in his mock annoyance voice.

Jess gave him a sad frown in reply. "You know we could just get back in the car…"

Nick shook his head, "I don't think so Jess, I'm not really feeling another black eye…" he said pointing at the darkening skin under his left eye that had felt the full force of a Jess Day punch. Nick stretched his back and let out a groan, "Besides I forgot how tricky car sex can be…it seemed so much easier when I was seventeen."

Jess gave a small shrug, her eyes not meeting his and mumbled, "I never tried."

Nick looked to her in disbelief then the realisation of the fact that Jess lost her virginity aged twenty-two played in his mind, she hadn't been the type of teenage girl to go parking with guys in the woods or a quick feel up underneath the bleachers. To Jess sex was something special, with the exception of her 'Katie' dalliance with Sam last year Jess had never been one for casual sex and random hook ups, Jess only slept with guys she genuinely liked and cared for. Nick felt triumph at the fact he had been lucky enough to be with her.

Nick rubbed her back softly, "Well we will have to rectify that…" Jess eyes widened at his words, instantly flicking to the backseat of the car. "…but not tonight Jess. Maybe when you're not wrapped up in the Indian dress version of Fort Knox."

Jess rolled her eyes and muttered, "Fine, fine. But for the record it would've been good…_damn _good."

Nick laughed at her and pulled her closer to him, "Just shut up and watch would ya?"

Jess glared at Nick, "You still haven't even told me what I'm meant to be looking at Nick!"

"That!" he said pointing out to the horizon.

Jess looked out to where Nick had pointed and saw the greyish-blue of the night sky was slowly changing; a soft yellow began to appear, creating a break of light where the sky met the ocean. Jess watched in awe as a massive circle of piercing light bean to creep up from the horizon, blazing like fire. Suddenly the sky began to transform into a mixture of endless shades and hues of yellow, pink, orange and purples. The darkness of the ocean seemed to fade as the light rose slowly higher in the sky; Jess could see the flickers of blue and green, the white froff of the lapping waves. Jess suddenly realised she had never watched the sunrise before, sure she had stayed up all night and walked home with the dawn (mostly after nights with CeCe and her model friends) but she had never actually just sat and watched the sunrise. It was like every cheesy cliché moment people said it was. It was incredible.

Nick tightened his arms around her waist, "Not bad huh?"

Jess let out a small sigh as she continued to stare out in wonderment, "Nick it's beautiful."

"That time I came here before, I woke up in the morning with the worst hangover of my life…" he said with a low snigger. That morning was at least in his top ten. "…and the sun was just coming up and I was like whoah, this is the most incredible thing I have ever seen. I always wanted to come back here."

Jess nodded in agreement. "Why didn't you?"

Nick shrugged, "I dunno I guess I wanted to bring someone special." He shifted nervously on the hood. "I came to the beach with Schmidt once but he just kept trying to make me do aerobics. It was horrible."

Jess laughed at his words and playfully hit him on the arm; Nick always had to throw something in to ruin the moment.

"I serious Jess he was wearing spandex." Nick said with a shudder. "And he brought me a matching pair!"

Jess laughed louder, settling herself nicely in the crook of Nick's arm, watching as the sun rose higher, the pastel colours stretching across the morning the sky, the clouds were tinged with pinks and yellows, like balls of cotton candy. They sat quietly for a while just watching and enjoying the feel of being so close to each other. Despite the bursts of bright light before he Jess could feel her eyes begin to drop and now as she was so relaxed she finally realised how tired she was.

It had been a crazy couple of days and nights to say the least. As the sun was rising it was clearly morning so her and Nick had pretty much been up all night. And she had spent the whole day part of yesterday chasing Schmidt and Winston around trying to stop their sabotage of CeCe's wedding which had been beyond exhausting. The day before that had been one _long_ day with the arrival of her dad; CeCe's pre-wedding henna meltdown and the job interview from hell. Not to mention she had stayed up half the night looking at planets and stars with Winston and the others trying to make up for forgetting his birthday. And the night before that…well Nick had kept her up pretty much all night again but for very different and much more satisfying reasons.

Jess had had little rest for the past seventy-two hours and it seemed her body had finally realised it, her limbs suddenly felt heavy, her head ached, she let out a long and deep yawn.

Nick looked to her and saw the exhaustion in her eyes, his own mind suddenly coming to the realisation as hers. It was time for sleep.

Nick slid off the hood, "C'mon, time to go."

Jess shook her head in protest but had already followed Nick back to the ground. "No, we should stay it's…" she tried to cover her mouth as she let out an even bigger yawn.

Nick took her hand, "No arguments Jessica. Home. Bed. Now." He said dragging her to the passenger's seat.

Jess couldn't help but grin as Nick opened her door and she slid into the car. The words bed and Nick floated through her mind; those two things definitely went together. But despite how much Jess wanted Nick in her bed as she let out another exhausted yawn all she wanted right now was sleep. Nick slid into the driver's seat, started the engine and they headed back up the dirt track and were back on the road again. Jess tried to take in the beautiful scenes they passed now she could see in the morning light but her eyes were blurring, her head was beginning to flop back and forth. She felt Nick's hands trace against the back of her neck again.

"Sleep Jess, it'll take us a little while to get back." He said softly.

Jess nodded and lent her head against the glass of the passenger window, she felt her eyes begin to fall, the soft rhythmic movement of the car soothing her when suddenly the car was filled with the sounds of _The Pointer Sisters – I'm so Excited._

Jess sat bolt upright at the sound of her phone.

Nick groaned, "Eurgh Jess you _need _to change your ringtone!"

Jess didn't say anything she just reached out for her tiny pink purse which lay forgotten on the floor with her shoes. She fumbled with the zipper and grabbed her loud and vibrating cell-phone.

Her eyes went wide immediately when she saw the caller ID. "It's my dad."

* * *

Jess stared at the blaring cell-phone clutched in her palm. The ringing just seemed to get louder. She looked up at Nick whose face seemed to have gone suddenly very serious.

"Answer it Jess." He said keeping his eyes on the road.

Jess tapped call answer and put the phone to her ear, "Dad, hey, what's with the 6am wakeup call?" she said trying to keep her voice casual and light. "Uh huh, yeah sure…" she said quietly nodding.

Nick tried his best to keep his focus on the road ahead of him but he couldn't help but feel his body tense up. Bob's disappointed face after he and Jess came crashing through the hotel roof burned in his mind.

"That sounds great dad but I'm not at the loft right now, I…" she said, letting out a small sigh. "Dad no of course not…I went back to CeCe's...Yeah, she's doing ok…"

Jess said in as low a whisper as she could manage, although she knew it was ridiculous, Nick was sitting right beside her.

Nick felt his hands tightened around the steering wheel at the sound of Jess's lie about where she had been.

"Ok, ok…I'll meet you at the hotel in an hour. Great, bye." She said softly before hanging up.

Jess kept the phone in her hands, twirling it silently in her fingers; Nick hadn't looked at her since she answered her dads call. The mood between them had changed; gone was the lightness and ease of their perfect moment at the beach, now it just felt strained and tense.

Jess shot Nick a quick side glance, "He wants to have breakfast before his flight. We haven't really had much time to catch up with all the craziness of the past couple of days."

Nick just nodded in response, his eyes still fixed straight ahead. Great Bob probably wanted one last chance to convince Jess what a total loser Nick was before he headed back to Portland.

Jess knew Nick was thinking about all the things her dad had said about him, all the things that had convinced him he was too much of a mess and this could never work between them. Jess needed him to look at her; she needed him to see how wrong he was. She knew she hadn't helped matters with her white-lie about where she had been all night. She hadn't meant to lie, it had been a kneejerk reaction to get her dad off her back.

Jess shuffled closer to Nick, lightly as she reached out and traced her fingers up his forearm. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said I was at CeCe's."

Nick didn't answer for a moment. He swallowed and still not looking at her asked. "Then why did you?"

Jess sighed, "It was just easier. I'm sorry."

Nick knew she was right, he knew she hadn't said it to hurt him but he couldn't shake the uneasiness he felt.

Jess edged her body a little closer, "Nick…talk to me."

Nick gave a light shrug, "Look Jess it's fine, really…"

"Nick…" she said.

"It's cool, I get it." He replied.

"Don't do this Nick." Jess said sternly.

"Do what? I'm not doing anything!" he said scrunching his face up.

"Exactly." Jess said loudly. "Don't let one little thing ruin this Nick."

Nick finally turned to look at her, his expression one of total disbelief. "One little thing? I would hardly call your dad hating me one little thing!"

Jess rolled her eyes, "Oh don't be so dramatic he doesn't hate you Nick."

"Well he's not exactly crazy about me is he Jessica?" Nick snapped back. His foot began to press harder on the accelerator.

"That's only because he just found out you boned his only daughter!" Jess yelled.

Nick shook his head, "Please don't say boned…"

"You guys were getting along great before you opened your big trap Miller." Jess said.

Nick glared at her, "Yeah things were good, we were drinking beer, making sandwiches, Bob thought I was a real good guy…just not good enough for his daughter."

Jess clenched her fists up angrily, "Look Nick I told you this yesterday and I'm telling you now, I don't care what my dad thinks!"

"Well I do ok Jess!" Nick yelled as he took a corner a little sharper than he should have.

"Will you stop driving like a maniac and listen to me!" Jess yelled. "It doesn't matter what my dad thinks, or Schmidt or Winston or anyone else for that matter, it only matters what _we _think Nick."

Nick slowed the car slightly as Jess words began to sink in.

"Look Jess…" he said in that voice Nick Miller used when he was about to give up on something.

"No shut up Nick I'm not done." She snapped giving him a small scowl. "_I _think this could be the start of something…" she hesitated for a moment, still scared to say too much so soon but she knew had to do something to pull Nick out of this dark mood. "…amazing. I told you I don't wanna give up on this, so you're just gunna have to pull your head of your ass and deal with it Miller."

Nick didn't say anything for a moment; he looked to Jess and saw she was glaring at him, a furious expression across her face. He met her fierce blue eyes with his own forceful brown and he knew he had lost; he couldn't have fought her even if we wanted to. And dammit he was done fighting with her (about this at least). Nick had to stop running away from the things he wanted just because he was scared they might not work out. Jess was right (as usual) this could be the start of something amazing.

Nick loosened his death grip on the steering wheel and dropped his right arm down; he set his hand lightly atop Jess thigh. "Ok Jess. I give up, you win."

Jess knew he was trying to lighten the mood with his carefree answer but she understood his true meaning. He was ready, he wasn't going to give up on this either.

Jess placed her hand on his, "Good." She said, her tongue darted out at him tauntingly. "You know I thought you woulda figured out I'm always right by now Nick."

Nick shot her a crooked grin, "Maybe I should just buckle under your know-it-all regime?"

Jess laughed, leaning her head down on his shoulder, "Think of all the time we would save."

Nick laughed as well, "True. I guess it would be easier than arguing with you for the rest of my life huh?"

Jess sat up, her eyes suddenly widened at his words. She knew it had been just another flippant comment in their usual playful banter but her heart skipped when he said _the rest of my life_. Nick turned to her to see why she was suddenly so quiet and saw Jess just sitting there staring at him, her eyes were open wide looking at him in disbelief, her mouth was slightly open in a half-smile.

Nick felt like he had definitely missed something in the last few minutes. His brow furrowed slightly he opened his mouth to ask what had caused his usually overly talkative companion to go suddenly mute when the car was filled with a loud ringing sound. However this time it was not Jess god awful 1980s ringtone but just the standard default setting ring-ring tone of Nick's cell phone located in the pocket of his suit jacket still wrapped around Jess shoulders.

Nick looked to Jess, "Hey could you grab that?"

Jess nodded and fished the phone from the inside jacket pocket, her face frowned at the number on the screen. "It's an unknown number." She said looking to Nick.

Nick gave a small shrug, "Hey maybe its Bob calling to invite me to breakfast." He said sarcastically as they pulled off the coastal highway.

"Oh haha." Jess said rolling her eyes as she answered the call. "Hello Nicholas Millers phone, how may I help you?"

Nick let out a mocking snort of laughter at Jess's personal assistant impression but stopped immediately as her face fell into a very serious and concerned expression.

"Oh my god, is he ok?" she asked nervously, bringing her hand to her mouth as she took a sharp breath, then began nodding her head constantly. "Yes, yes of course…yes I understand. We'll be there as soon as we can. Thank you."

Nick's hand still rested on Jess leg and he gave her a gentle squeeze, "Jess what's happened?"

Jess looked up at him, face sober and eyes filled with worry, "Winston's in the hospital."

Nick moved his hand to his forehead and let out a heavy sigh of relief. "Oh that. That's nothing."

"What?" Jess yelled. "You mean you knew he was hurt? What the hell happened?"

So Nick relayed the rest of the details to Jess about how Winston got bit by Bucky and had to find his way out of the ducts with a bloody and most likely infected arm. Jess somehow didn't seem to find the whole thing as blasé as Nick did and insisted they go straight to the hospital.

"No Jess I'm taking you to meet your dad." Nick said firmly.

"Nick he'll understand, our friend is in the hospital…" Jess said but Nick cut her off.

"Because he let a rabid badger lose in the freaking air ducts Jess!" Nick replied. "You said you would meet your dad and I'm taking you to meet your dad."

Jess knew what Nick was worried about, he didn't want Bob to have any more things to add to his anti-Nick Miller list.

"Fine, fine." Jess conceded. "Can we at least go back to the loft first?"

"Jessica I already told you…" Nick said firmly shaking his head.

"I need to change Nick!" Jess yelled back. "Or do you want me to tell my dad exactly why my sari looks like I was mauled by a small animal?"

Nick looked at her for a moment, "Good point." He said taking a sharp right turn, heading back in the direction of home.

* * *

They drove back to the loft in near silence; Jess knew Nick wasn't being distant or cool towards her on purpose, and that the looming disapproving figure of her father was the reason behind his increasingly tense mood. She knew now wasn't the time to talk about it further and she was still so exhausted, so instead she flipped the radio on, kicked her feet up on the dashboard and spent the rest of the journey with her body curled around Nick's as he drove.

Nick tried to force himself to relax and enjoy the feel of Jess beside him but his entire body had gone rigid ever since Bob's phone call. Only a short time ago everything had seemed so bright and hopeful, despite Jess numerous declarations of how much she wanted this Nick couldn't fight the sinking feeling building in his gut. Nick hoped he'd feel better once Bob was gone; he just needed to get through the rest of the morning. Hopefully picking Winston up from the hospital would be a good distraction whilst Jess was most likely being grilled by her father over her poor choice in men.

Given the early hour the roads were virtually empty and they made it back home pretty quickly. Nick parked Jess's car out front and did his best to be as gentlemanly as possible, opening Jess's door, helping her out of the car, hell he was even holding her damn pink purse again.

They stood for a moment in the street still holding hands as Jess slipped her shoes back on. Nick began to feel light panic spread through him, should he hold her hand as they walked? Did they do that now? Nick and Jess usually walked together in a playful manner, close but not touching, at least not on purpose. There had been the occasional brush of hands once or twice and they both felt the same spark between them but they were friends so they had let it go. Friends didn't hold hands walking down the street but they weren't just friends anymore, now they were…well Nick wasn't quite sure exactly what they were but something inside him suddenly felt determined, that whatever they were now they held hands in the street.

Unfortunately Nick's new found determination manifested itself in a physical way.

"Nick are you ok? Are you mad or something?" Jess asked quietly.

Nick scrunched his face up in confusion, "No of course not, why would you ask me that?"

"Cause you're kind of crushing my hand right now." She said weakly.

Nick dropped her hand immediately and gave her an apologetic look, internally cursing himself.

Silently they made their way inside, Jess could feel Nick's irritation but couldn't place why, not sure what to say she just hummed lightly to herself as they waited for the elevator and gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Nick returned it as best he could as they entered the elevator but he was still so mad at himself for the whole hand crushing fiasco.

Nick hated his blundering nature, he had never been exactly smooth with girls, he always struggled to know if and when to make his move, it was all down to his damn over-thinking and usually meant the moments passed him by. He didn't want that to happen with Jess, he couldn't let that happen.

But as they reached the loft things suddenly felt even stranger between them. Jess burst through the door and gathered up her things scattered across the living room, they had all been in such a rush before the wedding they had left the place a mess. However as Jess dashed around frantically Nick hung in the hallway, still holding her damn purse, not sure what to do with himself. Should he offer to help her? Should he just leave her alone? Nick had no idea what his next move was.

Jess seemed to have everything she needed and headed towards her bedroom. "Err I'll just get changed real quick."

"Jess wait." Nick called after her.

Jess stopped where she was and turned back to him as Nick moved towards her. They stood staring at each other for a moment in the space between their two doors, the space where so much had happened between them. Jess looked to Nick, her eyes expectant and hopeful.

"I've still got your purse." He mumbled handing the pink object out to her.

Jess took it with a half-smile, a slightly disappointed look in her eyes. "Err…thanks."

"You're welcome." He replied not too sure what else to say.

Jess gave another small smile of thanks before she disappeared into her room, closing the door behind her.

Nick stood and stared at her door for a moment, wishing he had played the moment differently but not quite sure how. With a heavy sigh Nick made his way towards his own room across from hers, unbuttoning his shirt as he did so. Once inside he shrugged the shirt off and tossed in on the ever-growing pile of laundry building in the corner of his room and unbuckled his belt, loosening the tight feel of Schmidt's suit pants. Not bothering to close his door, he sat down on the edge of his bed, still unmade from the night he and Jess spent together two nights before. He flung himself backwards covering his hands with his face and emitted a low groan.

Why did it feel so uncomfortable between them all of sudden? Was it because they were back in the loft? Or because of his typical clumsy Nick Miller moves? Or because Nick knew Jess was on her way to see a man who was completely against the idea of them being together? Something just felt off between them and Nick hated it. Their time at the beach felt like a lifetime ago, Nick missed the easy carefree way they had felt together but now it felt complicated and confusing, Nick had no idea what to do next. Winston had said there were other moves; maybe Nick should have actually asked what those were.

"Hey Nick?" Jess voice called as Nick heard the opening click of her bedroom door.

"Yeah." He called back sitting himself upright.

Jess appeared in his doorway, she had changed into a red and white patterned dress and short black cardigan, Nick recognised it instantly, it was the dress she had worn the day she moved in. She was wearing her glasses now and had let her hair down and it fell messily around her face but in a way that looked like it had been styled to do so. As always she wore barely any makeup but still looked so effortlessly beautiful.

Nick felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of her. He slowly rose of the bed and moved closer to her, "You ok?"

But Jess didn't answer him; instead she just stared at Nick, her eyes seemingly transfixed on him. Her eyes raked up and down his body, taking in his bare chest, his broad shoulders and strong arms, the way his pants hung loose around his waist with his undone belt, so loose she could easily tug them off with one move. Jess felt a sudden overwhelming ache pool between her legs at the sight of him. Her eyes flicked from Nick to the bed behind him. The memories of two nights before flashed through her mind, Nick's hands on her body, lips on her skin, his body taking hers so perfectly. Jess actually crossed her legs where she stood as pulses of desire rushed through her. Nick was still walking towards her, edging ever closer. Jess eyes flashed to the bed once more. Her heart was beginning to pound in her chest.

Nick stopped just in front of her, leaving a small space between them, hands stuffed in his pants pockets and gave her a slightly quizzical look, "Jess you ok? You haven't said a word since you came in."

Jess gave her head a small shake and pushed her glasses up her nose, "Wh…yeah sorry I err…" she stammered as her eyes skimmed over Nick's chest again, appreciating the smattering of dark masculine curls of his chest hair. Keep it together Jess, she told herself. "I'm good, sorry. I just came in to say I was heading out now."

Nick nodded, "Ok cool, so I guess I'll see you later."

Jess nodded her head as well, "Yep."

But she didn't move, she just stayed exactly where she was. They both did. Neither of them spoke for a few moments, they both just stood staring at one another. Jess felt her breath quicken and pulse race as she stood so close to a half-naked Nick, her chest rose in time with her increasingly hurried breath. Her mind grew hazy, she forgotten why she had even come in here, forgotten where she was supposed to be going, all she seemed to be able to focus on right now was Nick. Her eyes ran over Nick's body, his undone belt then the bed and then she started all over again. Body, belt, bed. She couldn't help herself.

Nick felt the shift in Jess, gone was the feelings of awkwardness that had come as soon as they returned to the loft, but also gone was the sweet gentle mood from their time at the beach. What Nick felt from Jess right now was the same as he had felt from her that morning in the back seat of her old Volvo and in this very room two nights ago, pure want and lust. He felt it too, of course he did he always felt it, he always wanted her. But as much as he wanted to pick up where they had left off earlier Nick knew where Jess had to go right now and it took all the power he had to control himself.

"Jess you're gunna be late to meet Bob?" he asked softly.

But again Jess didn't say a word she stepped forward, closing the small gap between their bodies, gently tracing her fingers up and down Nick's exposed skin.

"Jess…" Nick protested less than half-heartedly, his mind struggling to concentrate on anything other than what her hands were doing right now.

"Shut up Nick." She near growled before she crashed her mouth to his.

Nick reacted instantly and wrapped his arms around her body, pawing at her back, gripping at her waist. Jess slid her tongue into Nick's mouth as she continued her tormenting attention in his pants; Nick couldn't help but moan lowly. Nick gripped Jess tighter as they stumbled backwards locked in a frenzy of hot wild kisses, as they reached the edge of the bed Jess moved both her hands up to Nick's shoulders and forced him down momentarily breaking their embrace.

Her lips returned to his within seconds as she climbed onto his lap and straddled him. Nick's hands slid the cardigan from her shoulders, his fingers then set to work slipping the thin straps of her dress down, the red material fell and bunched at her waist, revealing her bare breasts. Nick raised an eyebrow at her as he broke his lips from hers and began kissing down her neck, collarbone and chest. Jess fisted her fingers into Nick's hair, gripping tightly as she began to grind herself against him. Nick leant his head down and took her nipple in his mouth, swirling his tongue around the hardened bud, his teeth grazed against it. Jess threw her head back and cried out at his delicious mouth on her skin, she continued to rock herself against him faster, feeling the heat and desire between her legs intensify tenfold as she felt how hard he was beneath her.

Nick moved his attentive lips to her other breast as he slipped one hand between them and under the bunched up dress around her waist. He much preferred these little sundresses Jess wore to that stupid sari, no layers and easy access. His fingers ran across the soft lace of her panties and he could feel how wet she was. He rubbed the outside of her underwear up and down with his palm.

"Uh…Nick…" Jess whispered breathlessly above him as she gripped his head and roughly kissed him.

Nick moved his hand upwards, desperate to feel Jess when the silence of the room (except for the sound of their ragged and intense breaths)was suddenly broken by the ear shattering sound of Jess's loud and cheery ringtone. Nick felt the phone vibrate in the tangled mess of Jess's dress between their bodies and he couldn't help but let out a groan of genuine irritation at the sound.

"Jess…" he grunted.

Jess shook her head, "Don't stop."

Nick didn't want to stop but the negative voice in the back of his head knew who that call was from and why told him he had to. Nick tried to push the thought from his mind but suddenly the room was again filled with the sounds of _I'm So Excited_. Jess let out a defeated sigh and reached down into the mess of her discarded dress to locate her phone. She looked and the screen and cringed, she knew who it would be and she knew she couldn't ignore him again.

"Dad hey." She said trying to bring her uneven breathing back to normal as quickly as possible. "I know, I know I'm sorry traffic was crazy and I…"

Nick went tense immediately knowing Bob was on the other end of the phone whilst he was sitting here with Jess wrapped around his body practically naked, knowing what was about to happen between them.

"What…Do I? Oh the elevator was broken…I just ran up the stairs." She lied, unable to stop the blush form across her cheeks when Nick looked at her, the slightest hint of a smirk across his face.

Nick had absolutely no problem with Jess lying about where she was this time. The last thing he needed Bob to know was that he was about to defile his daughter, _again_ and therefore made her late for breakfast.

"I'm leaving now dad, promise. Be there in twenty." She said with a nod. "Ok, love you too. Bye."

Jess shut off the phone and tossed it down on the bed beside them. Jess would not meet Nick's eyes, she suddenly felt very exposed and a little embarrassed. She had pretty much just thrown herself at him like a sex-starved lunatic. She shifted nervously on Nick's lap, his hands still around her waist, although not gripping her as intently as before.

Jess had felt the awkward shift between them once they returned home but she still couldn't figure out why. They needed to talk and that's what she had come in here to say, she had no idea what had come over her but when she saw him there on the bed she just felt so…desperate. She needed to touch him, to feel him and she couldn't wait a second longer. Jess was really beginning to question her self-control, or lack thereof, when it came to Nick Miller.

"Well I guess I better go…" she said quietly, pulling the material of her dress up to cover her exposed chest.

"Ok." Nick said, not sure the else he was supposed to do right now. His hands dropped from her waist.

Silently Jess stood up, pulling the straps of her dress back into place. She picked up her cardigan and slipped it back on. Nick remained sitting where he was, bare chested, pants still undone, a massive erection straining against the tight material. Jess shot a quick glance at Nick's mirror and straightened herself as best she could, but with the lack of sleep and the recent near wild sex session she looked more than a little dishevelled.

She turned back to Nick and grabbed her phone off the bed, her fingers nervously playing with the red bunny ears of her phone case. "So…I'm gunna…"

Nick stood up slowly careful to adjust the painful throbbing in his pants. He may have to have a little self-completing time before he headed to pick Winston up from the hospital. "Yeah I should grab a quick shower…"

Jess nodded, "Ok so erm…" she muttered, her eyes flashed to the bed again. Stop it Jess, she told herself.

Nick wracked his brain for anything to say but nothing came out.

Jess smiled nervously, "So later…we'll pick this up…" Crap she hoped Nick knew she didn't mean literally. Or maybe she did but _after_ they finally talked. "I mean talk…"

Why were things suddenly so hard between them? Five minutes ago they were relaxed and free completely caught up in one another. And now they were standing making awkward small talk, neither with any idea what to say to the other. And words were usually not a problem for either of them. Jess thought back to their moment in the car earlier, she knew they both wanted this to happen, to work between them but the reality was they had no idea how. The lines between them were so blurred and confusing.

"Ok." Nick said with a small nod.

Nick wasn't sure what to do, was she waiting for him to say something else? Maybe she was waiting for him to kiss her goodbye, did they do that now? Would that be too much? Nick cursed himself; this was the hand holding debacle all over again. Nick couldn't believe he was worried she might think a kiss goodbye was stepping over the line when only moments ago he was ready to take her right here. God he hoped she didn't want to do that creepy kiss-finger thing she had done at the wedding. That was weird, even for Jess.

Jess stood there having the same internal war of confusion as Nick; eventually she figured he wasn't going to make a move. So she stepped forward to place a light goodbye kiss on his cheek, feeling it was the safest option right now. Unfortunately Nick had chosen this moment to have the same idea and lent forward to kiss her other cheek when their heads collided once more, Jess's head hitting Nick just under his left eye where she had accidently punched him only hours before.

"Dammit Jessica what the hell is your problem! Are you trying to blind me or what?" he cried out his hand covering his increasingly sore eye.

Jess shut her eyes in embarrassment, "God no, I'm sorry…again. Oh, I…" she shook her head. "I gotta go. I…we…see ya." She said giving him a small wave before darting out of the room and then the apartment.

Nick rubbed his face and collapsed back down on the bed with a heavy sigh, at least things couldn't get any worse.

* * *

Jess sat in the hotel restaurant pushing her eggs around her plate like a child who had been told off. She knew she wasn't being very good company and felt bad, she hadn't any father-daughter time with Bob in a long while, ever since she moved into the loft, she kept promising to go visit him but put if off for one reason or another. Jess just couldn't seem to bring herself to spend too long away, especially lately.

Bob was talking about the disaster of a wedding and the badger fiasco but Jess was barely listening, as always her mind was focused on Nick. She thought back over the past few days, still processing all that had gone on. Over the past 48 hours alone they had finally slept together, experienced a more than awkward confrontation with her father, been each others official plus ones to CeCe's wedding, called it off only to un-call it again. Jess felt as though she'd experienced a whole relationship from start to finish but still had no idea where she stood.

Jess thought back to her and Nick's time at the wedding before all the sabotage and drama. Jess had loved Nick had been there as her date, that they were there _together_ but she had felt his nerves the entire time. She knew it was down to what her dad had said the day before, she knew Nick was desperate to prove he wasn't the mess. Jess knew these fears weren't just going to go away, Nick had a penchant for self-deprecation but Jess was determined to get through to him, she just needed to talk to him.

That was why she hated the sudden tension that had risen between them. It seemed things were easiest when they were ripping each other's clothes off and Jess didn't want that, or at least not just that, she wanted more. Still not really paying attention to her father's words Jess allowed her mind to wander back to their time earlier in Nick's room, her body wrapped so perfectly around his.

Jess felt a pair of beady unhappy eyes glaring at her. "Jessica are you even listening to me?"

Jess gave a quick shake of her head, pushing the thought of a shirtless Nick and their second failed attempt at busting from her mind.

"Sorry dad, my mind was somewhere else…" she said a small blush forming on her cheeks. "What were you saying?"

Bob groaned, "I said you should come home over the summer, we can go up to the lake house like when you were a little girl."

Jess smiled fondly remembering the few happy family memories the Days had before they divorced.

"Sure dad, that sounds good." She said genuinely.

Bob smiled, "Great. How about next month? Maybe we can go to that festival thing you used to love so much."

Jess scrunched her face up in confusion, Bob was referring to their towns local festival of arts. Jess and her mom had loved it when she was a kid and Jess had signed up every year as soon as she was old enough. The festival was small and quirky, very bohemian, very Jess but very un-Bob. In fact he hated it with a burning passion.

"But you hate the summer festival dad?" Jess asked suspiciously.

Bob waved his hand dismissively, "No I don't."

"Yes you do." Jess said firmly. "In fact you called the three person all female production of Hamlet that I was in with mom and Aunt Carol the worst thing you had ever seen, you hated the festival and if I tried to make you go again you would gauge your own eyes out."

Bob gave a small shrug, "Well that was terrible Jess. But it's gotten better over the past couple years, since Pete took over…"

"Wait what…Pete who?" Jess asked.

"Pete Wilson." Bob replied.

Jess rolled her eyes, "Eurgh you mean _Petey Pan _Wilson."

Petey 'Peter Pan' Wilson was a boy who had grown up down the street from Jess but unfortunately he was one of those odd lonely but sweet kids bullies gravitated towards. Jess had saved him from some bullies who tried to steal his candy on Halloween when they were eight years old; she had spent the rest of the night trick or treating with him and told him how much she liked his Peter Pan costume. For every Halloween or fancy dress occasion that followed Petey would dress up as Peter Pan. At first Jess didn't think anything of it but one night at their sophomore Halloween dance Pete got on the stage and passionately declared his love for Jess in front of the whole school. Jess had been mortified, hoping to get through high school as unknown and unscathed as possible but from that night she was known as Petey Pan's girl. Jess had fled the gym mortified when Petey had chased after her to apologise but only ended up throwing up all over her. The event haunted Jess's last two years of school. She got over it eventually as she soon learnt that would not be the worst thing a man who claimed to love her would ever do.

Bob now rolled his eyes at her, "No one calls him that anymore Jessica. He's a respected local businessman now.

It was true; Pete (understandably preferring not to go by Petey anymore) had grown up into a pretty decent guy. He had attended a good college, earned himself a Master's in business and finance and now owned a successful real estate company back in Portland.

"Why are you telling me this dad?" Jess asked but she already knew the answer.

It seemed despite the years little seemed to lessen Pete's interest in Jess. Somehow she always managed to 'accidentally' bump into him every time she visited home, usually when she was out with her dad. Jess knew Pete was the type of guy he preferred for Jess, nice, stable and secure but to Jess he would always be the boy who threw up on her in a Peter Pan costume.

Bob shrugged lightly, "Just thought you'd like to know." He said taking a bite of his bacon. "He's always had a soft spot for ya Jess."

"Dad!" Jess snapped.

"What? He's really made something of himself that's all." Bob said nonchalantly.

Jess threw her fork down, the metal clattered loudly against her china plate. Bob looked up slightly startled.

"Why don't you just say what you really mean dad?" Jess said.

Bob mumbled something incoherent and wouldn't quite meet his daughters stare.

"This isn't about Pete Wilson or what he's making of himself." She said darkly. "This is about Nick. About me and Nick."

Bob placed his fork down more gently than his daughter and dabbed his bearded face with his napkin.

"He's not right for you Jess." he said.

Jess shook her head incredulously, "You don't know that. You don't know him!"

"I know enough." Bob replied.

"What because you think he's like you?" Jess asked.

"Yes." Bob snapped loudly.

"What's so wrong with you?" she asked glaring at her father.

"Nothing, nothing I…" Bob was becoming increasingly agitated. "Look I'm not saying he's a bad guy…"

"He's not!" she protested.

Bob nodded, "I know, I know…but you deserve better Jess."

"Look I get it ok? I know you're just trying to look out for me but I'm not a little kid anymore…" she began.

Bob sighed, "Jess…"

Jess shook her head, "No dad listen, please…I know you think Nick's just an immature clown with no plan but you're wrong."

Bob looked at her unconvinced, "Jessica yesterday he dragged you into the damn air ducts with a wild badger and came crashing through the ceiling destroying CeCe's wedding! You could have been seriously hurt Jess!"

"That wasn't his fault dad! Nick didn't let the badger out, he was trying to stop the guys from ruining the wedding! He was trying to help…" she said. "He did it for me."

Jess decided to leave out the small detail of Nick's temporary defection to team sabotage.

"Oh." Bob said. "I didn't know that."

"Because you don't know Nick." Jess answered simply.

"Maybe not Jessica, but can you honestly tell me he's ever going to be more than a bartender?" Bob asked. "Where the hell is he going to be in ten years' time?"

Jess scowled at her father across the table, she hated fighting with him, with either of her parents but right now he was making her so angry. But she still hadn't answered his question, the truth was she really didn't know.

"Can you really see a future with him?" Bob asked.

"Yes." Jess answered instantly, surprising both Bob and herself.

As Jess thought about the future, she might not know where they'd be or what they would be doing the truth was she did see a future for them. A future with Nick, the idea was both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.

Jess took a deep breath, "I know you think this is a mistake and maybe you're right…but I don't care." she said firmly.

Bob opened his mouth to say something but Jess gave him a look that warned she was not done.

"Nick is so much more than you think he is. These past two years he's been there through everything, Spencer, losing my job and trying to start over. I don't think I could have gotten through it without him. He takes care of me, he helps me…" she said softly. "He makes me happy."

Jess voice began to shake on her final words but Bob didn't try to interrupt again.

"I'm not saying he's perfect, he drives me nuts most of the time…" Jess said with a light chuckle. "And yeah it might be hard and messy and everything else but I don't care. I want to be with Nick and nothing you say will change my mind."

Bob took in his daughter and listened to her words, she suddenly seemed so different. She was no longer his quirky little girl with thick glasses and an all too trusting nature. She still had the glasses but seemed to have lost a little of her innocent character, she seemed a little harder, stronger and more determined than Bob had ever seen before.

Like most father's Bob hadn't been very enamoured with any of Jess previous boyfriends. Whether it was Glen Ealy when she was ten, the politically correct saps she dated in high school or the burnouts and losers she had dated in her twenties, none of them had been good enough for her. The worst had been the deadbeat Spencer, Bob still couldn't believe Jess had wasted four years with him. Bob hadn't been too thrilled about the older guy Russell something she dated last year but at least he seemed to have prospects. Then there had been the doctor a few months ago, Bob hoped this relationship would go somewhere but then it just suddenly ended. Jess had never told Bob why but he was sure he had a pretty good idea now.

Jess had always tried to convince Bob to give the idiots she dated a chance and to no avail but in twenty years Bob had never seen her so determined to convince him he was wrong as she was now.

Bob let out a heavy sigh and admitted defeat. "Apparently not." He gave Jess a soft smile. "But I meant what I said the other night Jess, I'm still you're dad and nothing's gunna stop me looking out for you."

Jess smiled warmly at her father, "I know dad."

Bob nodded and picked his fork back up.

"So you'll try with Nick?" Jess asked. "Maybe be a little nicer to him?"

Bob scowled, "I didn't say nothing about being nice to the putz."

"Dad!" Jess whined.

Bob held his hands up, "Ok, ok…jeez."

Jess nodded and sipped her orange juice.

Bob pointed his fork at her, "But if he hurts you I'll kill him and make it look like an accident."

* * *

"And the blood was everywhere, I wasn't sure I was gunna make it. My whole life flashed before my eyes…and it got me thinking about what's really important ya know?"

Nick rolled his eyes and sipped his beer as he listened to Winston re-tell the tale of his brush with death in the ducts for the fourth time. Nick couldn't help but notice each time the story seemed to get more dramatic and deadly. Bucky the badger appeared to have gone from Winston's animal hero to arch enemy with one small bite. Because in reality that's all it turned out to be a small bite on his arm, when Nick picked Winston up from the emergency room he stated the bite itself didn't hurt half as bad as the damn rabies shot he had. However as Nick listened to version number four it sounded more like Winston had wrestled a wild bear and was lucky enough to escape with his life let alone his arm.

Nick drained the rest of his beer, already his third of the day and it was barely lunchtime but he needed something to calm his nerves. Jess had been gone for hours; no breakfast in the history of time had ever taken this long and the longer she was gone the more anxious Nick became and the more beer he needed.

He had given in half an hour ago and texted her. Still listening to Winston drone on about his newfound respect for life Nick flipped his cell phone open and read her reply for what was probably the twentieth time.

**Be back soon. I think we need to talk. J x**

Nick stared down at the words on the small screen in his hands. _We need to talk _were words nobody ever wanted to hear (or in this case read). Nick felt the sinking feeling return as he read them again; god knows what Bob had said to her over breakfast.

Nick snapped the phone shut and heaved himself off the couch, he gestured to Winston for a beer who nodded yes enthusiastically. Nick knew he probably shouldn't let Winston drink given the strong pain medication he had been prescribed but Nick secretly hoped if mixed with alcohol they might act as a sedative and give Nick some peace.

As Nick grabbed two bottles from the refrigerator he heard a low and almost painful groan from Schmidt's bedroom. Slowly Nick walked to his friend's door and tapped his knuckles against it.

"Hey Schmidty…" he called as another groan came through the door. "You ok in there?"

"Go away Nick!" Schmidt yelled. "I told you I need time and quiet contemplation whilst I try to make the biggest decision of my life!"

Nick rolled his eyes. He and Winston had returned from the hospital to find Schmidt obsessively cleaning the kitchen, mumbling incoherently about choices, threesomes and the nonsensical workings of the female mind. Nick eventually managed to calm him down and get the whole story of his unexpected love triangle with CeCe and Elizabeth. Nick and Winston hadn't been of much assistance given the current state of their own romantic lives and so Schmidt vowed to stay in his room, shunning all the pleasures and distractions of life until he made his decision. Nick thought this was a stupid plan and told him as much but being Schmidt he didn't listen.

"Nicholas you have no idea of the hell I am in right now!" Schmidt cried.

Nick shook his head, "Oh yes Schmidt two women want you, how terrible your life must be."

Schmidt clearly didn't hear the sarcasm in Nick's voice or chose to ignore it. "Exactly Nick. This is like a sexual _Sophie's Choice._"

"Jar!" Nick yelled through the door.

"Calm down Nick, as a Jew that's ok." Schmidt replied.

"That doesn't excuse doucheyness Schmidt, jar!" Nick insisted.

"Look Nick would you just leave me in peace, I'm trying to find my centre in here!"

Nick felt his entire body shudder at Schmidt's words and automatically stepped away from the door; he had no desire to know what Schmidt's centre was or what he was doing in there to find it. Nick walked back to the couch and handed Winston his beer, who thankfully had now hung up his phone.

"Thanks man." Winston said taking a big gulp.

Nick nodded and checked his phone again, unable not to.

"Anything from Jess?" Winston asked.

Nick shook his head and sipped his beer, "Nope. You heard from Daisy?"

Winston shot a disappointed glance at his own lifeless phone. "Not yet."

Winston had called Daisy from the hospital and left a message to say what had happened but she hadn't got back to him yet.

"You will man, she probably hasn't had a chance to check her messages." Nick said.

Winston nodded but didn't look convinced. He liked Daisy a lot Nick could tell but he wasn't entirely sure the feeling was mutual. They sat quietly for a while and drank their beers, both clearly thinking about the confusing women in their lives. Nick couldn't help himself, he checked his phone again.

"Nick would you relax, she'll be back soon." Winston said shaking his head.

Nick tossed his phone on the coffee table. "She's been gone so long, too long."

"It'll be fine Nick." Winston replied.

"Her dad's probably convinced her this whole things a mistake." Nick spat bitterly. "Bob's probably dragging her on a plane back to Portland right now!"

"Seriously man, are you listening to yourself? Jess likes you ok, she really likes you." Winston snapped. "And from what you told me about last night she wants to make this work with you guys."

Nick grabbed his phone and shook it at Winston, "Then why would she say she wants to talk to me?"

"Maybe because she wants to talk to you." Winston said with a small smirk.

Nick rolled his eyes, "Come on Winston, you know when a girl says she wants to talk it's just code for something bad."

Winston shrugged, "Usually yes but this is Jess, she's not like other girls."

No, that she is not, Nick thought to himself. Nick sighed heavily and collapsed back against the couch.

"I just don't wanna screw it up man." he said.

"Then don't." Winston said simply.

"Wow thanks for that awesome advice." Nick said sarcastically. "Real helpful Winston."

"Look man, the only ones who can figure this whole thing out are you and Jess." Winston snapped back. "So just chill until she gets home and freaking talk to her!"

Nick nodded, he knew Winston was right, now he just had to wait.

Winston drained his beer and stood up. "Another?"

"Na, I'm good." Nick said. He thought he should slow down on the beers, feeling a soberish mind would be best when he finally spoke to Jess.

A moment later Winston collapsed back down, beer in hand, Nick noticed he checked his phone again but Nick didn't say anything. What a couple of suckers they were Nick thought. To try and keep their minds occupied they decided to watch a movie and despite some initial arguing over which one of them would make a better rogue detective they made some popcorn and chose Die Hard.

* * *

As Bruce Willis crawled barefoot through the air ducts on the TV Winston recalled how it brought back memories of his recent near death experience. Nick was about to yell at him to shut up when the loft door finally opened.

Nick sprang up as Jess walked in; her eyes searched the room, a bright smile on her lips as they met Nick's. Nick returned her smile as she stepped further into the apartment but it fell as he saw the looming figure appear behind her. Bob entered the loft silently and shot a disapproving look around the room. Nick glanced down at his stained and ragged hoodie, the table covered in empty beer bottles and Winston stretched out on the couch in a drugged and alcohol induced trip. Nick felt the sinking feeling in his stomach; he couldn't meet Bob's glaring eyes.

"Hey guys!" Jess said brightly tossing her purse down beside Winston.

"Jessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!" he cried sitting upright, popcorn flew everywhere as he turned to face her thrusting his hand in the air for a high-five.

Jess laughed and smacked her palm against his. "Hey buddy, how ya feeling?"

"Fantastic!" Winston said too loudly considering how close Jess was to him. "I feel so aliiiiiiiiiiiiiive and good! Isn't life amazing Jess?"

"It sure is." Jess said laughing again; she gave Nick a quizzical look.

"It's the pain pills." Nick explained.

"Sure it's got nothing to do with the twelve pack you two had." Bob muttered disapprovingly. "Who gives booze to someone hopped up on pain meds?"

"Dad!" Jess hissed over her shoulder.

Bob gave her a 'what did I say' look.

"Yeah…can it _Bob_!" Winston said his words beginning to slur slightly.

Nick glared at Winston and shook his head but Winston only winked in response before he turned his attention back to Jess.

"So girl where you been? Nick's been freaking out all morning." he said taken another swig of his beer. "He was worried Poppa Day had dragged your ass back to Portland."

Nick stared at Winston his eyes wide in horror, desperate for him to shut the hell up. He looked to Jess and noticed she had a rather pleased looking smile on her face.

"Well we were on our way back when the airline called to say they had overbooked and wanted to move dad to a later flight…" Jess began.

"The whole things a damn corporate scam, they trick you with the cheap flights and then think they can shift you around like sheep!" Bob said cynically.

Nick automatically nodded his head in agreement, he was thinking the exact same thing as Bob, it was more than a little unnerving.

Jess however just rolled her eyes, "Please, they've upgraded you to first class!"

Bob tutted, "Yeah, trying to buy me off. I know their game."

Jess ignored his last comment, "Anyway since we had some time to kill we stopped by CeCe's, check how she was doing." Jess looked at Nick, now talking directly to him. "I'm sorry; I didn't think we'd be so long."

"It's fine." Nick said trying to seem cool and relaxed in light of Winston's recent outburst. He gave Bob a quick look, "So…what time's your flight?" he asked hoping the eagerness in his voice was hidden.

Bob gave Nick a small scowl. "Don't worry Casanova I'll be on my way once I get the rest of my stuff…if I can find it in this mess!"

Nick didn't know what to say; instead he hurriedly began cleaning up, collecting up bottles and the messes of food wrappers. He knew it was stupid and wouldn't make any difference but he mostly just wanted to flee to the safety of the kitchen. As Nick hid he heard the intense and angry whispers of Bob and Jess in the living room, though he couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Nick suddenly felt a presence beside him and looked up hoping to see Jess's smiling face but was instead met with Bob's fiery glare. It took all of Nick's willpower not to let out his usual small squeal of fear.

"Bob…what are you…" Nick stammered nervously. "Err, where's Jess?"

"She's in her room, looking for my camera." Bob said his tone flat as he stared intently at Nick. "I wanted a chance to talk to you. Alone."

Nick felt a line of sweat upon his forehead, "O-ok."

"Jess is my only daughter; she's very special, one in a million in fact…" Bob began.

"I know." Nick said.

Bob glared at him so fiercely, telling him this was going to be a one way discussion, with no interruptions.

Bob cleared this throat, "And you're not good enough for her…"

Nick nodded his head slowly, again in total agreement with Bob. Nick guessed he should have seen this coming.

"But…Jess seems to think you're gunna prove me wrong." Bob said quietly. Nick looked up in shock. "And I hope for your sake's she's right."

Nick swallowed hard, afraid to interrupt Bob again and still trying to process what he was trying to say.

"She cares about you a lot…I've never seen her so…" Bob's words trailed off. He lent a little closer to Nick and pointed his finger at him threateningly. "You better take care of her."

Despite the fact Bob was still glaring at him menacingly, despite the near-crippling anxiety Nick felt right now and his desperate desire for Bob's approval Nick somehow found the courage to look Bob straight back in the eye.

"I will." Nick said with as much sincerity and conviction as he could.

Bob gave a small nod of understanding and opened his mouth to speak when Jess appeared, slightly irritated, at his side.

"Dad I've looked everywhere but I can't find your damn camera." She said.

Bob turned to her, "Don't worry sweetheart, I found it." he said tapping his jacket pocket lightly. "I must have forgot."

"Hmmm yeah." Jess said eyeing him suspiciously first, then Nick. "What were you guys talking about?"

Nick and Bob exchanged nervous looks.

"I was just saying that I agreed with your dad about the whole airline scam thing." Nick said quickly.

Jess looked at both of them, unconvinced but decided to let it go. "Whatever."

"Well I had better go." Bob said heading towards the door, Nick and Jess followed closely behind. "I don't want to miss my fancy flight."

Bob stopped at the door and turned to face them. He pulled Jess into a big bear-like hug and squeezed her tightly.

"It was so good to see you kiddo." He said. "And I meant what I said before, you better come home and visit soon."

Jess giggled lightly as she pulled away, "I will dad, promise."

"I'm gunna hold you to that." Bob said smiling at her. He looked over to the couch to where Winston was stretched out, still watching Die Hard although now a little bleary eyed. "See ya Wilson, stay away from badgers."

Winston didn't move, he just threw his arm up in the air and waved. "Catch you later Poppa D."

Both Nick and Jess looked at Bob apologetically.

"Where's the other one?" he asked. "You know the one who didn't shut up about his shoes yesterday."

"He's indisposed." Nick said nodding in the direction of Schmidt's closed bedroom door. "He's got girl troubles."

"Girl troubles? Really?" Bob asked clearly shocked. "I thought for sure he played for the other team."

Nick laughed loudly but Jess scolded her father. "Dad!"

"Hey I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, in fact my new mailman is gay." Bob said seriously. "And I thought the third stooge was as well, he kept asking me what eye cream I used for god's sake!"

Nick laughed again and so did Jess.

Bob stepped forward. "Nick…"

Nick was slightly startled, this was the first time Bob had actually gotten his name right since he'd been here. Bob didn't say another word but instead simply held his hand out to Nick. Nick reached out and shook it firmly with a nod. Jess stared at both men, slightly in shock but pleased at this development.

Bob gave Jess another hug goodbye before he left. Jess waved warmly before she closed the door and turned back to face Nick. She stood and rested her back against the door for a moment and looked at him with a slightly relieved smile.

"So…" she said as she pushed her body away from the door.

"So…" Nick repeated, a smile forming on his own face. Bob had been gone no more than 30 seconds but the mood between them already felt ten tons lighter.

Jess moved closer to him, "What should we do now?"

Nick grinned down at her, "Well…"

"I say we order pizza and watch Die Hard 2!" Winston yelled loudly from the couch.

* * *

As the credits rolled for Die Hard 2 Nick took a large gulp of his beer, having made the decision to return to alcohol when he realised the evening was not going to go as he hoped. Despite the heady combination of alcohol and painkillers Winston was still very much awake. Incoherent, nonsensical and increasingly emotional but still awake and still here, lying sprawled across the couch resting his head on Jess lap.

"Why hasn't she called Jess?" he asked forlornly. "Why hasn't Daisy called?"

Jess gave Nick a sad look but he just gave her an irritated shake of his head in return.

"I don't know sweetie." She said in her usual soothing tone as she lightly rested her head on his shoulder.

"I really like her." Winston near sobbed. "Why hasn't she called?"

Jess looked to Nick and mouthed 'say something' but again he just responded with an indifferent shrugged which caused Jess to glare back at him.

Nick sighed heavily, not wanting to upset Jess and shuffled a little further up the couch.

"Look man I'm sure it's just like I said before, she probably hasn't checked her messages yet." Nick said as caring as he could manage right now.

Winston sat up and shook his head, "Nu-uh, its past five and she _always_ checks her messages at five."

Nick rolled his eyes, struggling to find the words to comfort his friend about his girl troubles when all Nick really wanted was for him to go away so Nick could finally talk to his girl.

"I dunno Winston maybe she's got no service or her cell broke…" Nick muttered getting increasingly annoyed. "…maybe her plane crashed."

"Nick!" Jess cried as Winston's eyes went wide in horror.

"I didn't mean crashed like dead, I meant like on a desert island or something…you know like Lost…" he explained but Jess did not look pleased. "I never did get that show."

Winston jumped up, "Oh my god what if Nick's right? What is she's hurt or trapped?"

Jess glared at Nick but didn't apologise he just gave another shrug as Winston paced up and down rambling about plane crashes, moving islands and time travel.

Jess stood up, "Now look what you've done!"

"What I do?" Nick asked making full on turtle face as he moved back on the couch.

"You broke Winston!" Jess snapped back.

Nick rolled his eyes, "He'll be fine. He's just mixed up from the booze and pills and Daisy giving him the brush off."

Winston stopped pacing and snapped his eyes to them. "Is that what you guys think?"

"I err…no of course not…" Jess said not meeting Winston's eyes.

"Nick?" Winston asked turning to him.

"Look man I dunno, I'm hardly an expert when it comes to women…" Nick began.

Nick could help but notice the small scoff that escaped Jess lips; he did his best to ignore it.

"…but I think if she really cared she woulda called by now." Nick said.

Winston let out a heavy sigh and collapsed back on the couch. "Maybe you're right." He said sadly. "I mean she didn't even wanna be my date to the wedding."

Jess sat back down beside him, "What? I thought you said she had to work."

Winston shook his head, "Na that was just an excuse. I asked her to be my plus one, I was real excited about it but she said we weren't '_there ye_t'."

Nick winced, more dreaded kiss of death relationship words, they were almost as bad as 'we need to talk'. Which Nick and Jess still desperately needed to do and as bad as Nick felt for his friend he still wanted to get rid of him as quickly as possible.

"I'm sorry Winston." Jess said gently.

"Yeah that sucks." Nick said not as concerned as Jess. "Look screw her, you deserve way better Winston."

Jess nodded in agreement, pleased at Nick's supportive response. "The best." She added with a smile.

"Thanks guys." Winston said but his face was still despondent.

"You know what you should do?" Nick said Winston looked at him expectantly. "Put this whole thing behind you and start over. Just go to bed, sleep it off…tomorrow's a new day and all that crap." Nick his voice not full of concern but more annoyance.

Winston nodded, "Yeah I know but…I just don't wanna be alone." He said sadly. "Can I stay with you guys for a little while?"

Nick opened his mouth to firmly insist that what would be best for Winston right now as well as his long term survival would be sleep, far, far away from Nick and Jess. Unfortunately Jess answered first.

"Of course Winston." She said softly as Nick let out a small groan and rubbed his hand down his face.

Winston beamed at her, "Thanks Jess, can we watch Die Hard 3?"

Nick glared at Jess and shook his head but she just smiled at Winston.

"Whatever you want." She said sweetly as she rubbed his arm like he was a five year old kid.

"Awesome." Winston said as he hopped up excitedly to change the DVDs.

Nick lent closer towards Jess and whispered, "What the hell are you doing?"

"Come on Nick, he's upset and he needs us right now." She whispered back.

Nick rolled his eyes, "He's drunk and high and pissing me off! He needs to go to sleep."

Jess made a slightly disappointed face, "Nick he's our friend and we…"

Nick shook his head, his irritation completely taken over now, "Fine Jess, whatever. It's not like this day could get any worse can it?"

Jess scowled at him, confused. "And what does that mean?"

Nick opened his mouth to respond when Winston returned excitedly chatting about the movie. Nick let out an annoyed groan and pulled away from Jess, throwing himself back against the couch. Winston seemed to take this as an invitation to sit between them and happily settled himself back on the couch. Both Nick and Jess sat stiff and upright whilst Winston sat relaxed, not sensing the tension that had arisen, he pressed play and set the remote control down on the table next to his cell phone, unable to resist he picked it up.

Nick slammed his hand against his thigh, "For the love of god Winston put your damn phone down! Daisy hasn't called and she isn't going to!"

Winston set the phone back down silently whilst Jess glared angrily at Nick.

"Nick don't be mean." She scolded.

"I'm not trying to be mean Jessica I'm just being realistic." Nick growled lowly, completely aware he was being a jackass. "He's better to just let it go now or he'll drive himself crazy waiting around for something that's never going to happen."

Jess sat up and twisted her body to look directly at Nick, a half furious half hurt expression on her face. "What so you think he just call it?"

Nick shut his eyes and shook his head, "No Jess I didn't mean…Winston and Daisy are different…it's not the same."

Jess rolled her eyes and looked away, "Whatever. I just don't get why anyone would give up before they even try."

Nick groaned lowly, why did he always seem to make things worse? He wanted Jess to know he hadn't been talking about them but he could feel his anger brewing inside. Suddenly the whole day just caught up with him and it became too much for his naturally thin patience, Bob, Winston, the sudden awkwardness Nick felt with Jess and didn't know how to fix. Nick snapped.

"Well it's kinda hard to try when you have no idea what the hell someone is thinking!" Nick hissed before he turned his eyes back to the TV.

Jess shot him a nasty look but then too kept her eyes fixed firmly in front of her. "Well here's a crazy idea Miller, you could always just ask someone!"

Nick shook his head, "Maybe I would have had they not skipped out for the longest breakfast known to man or forced me on a three-way date with a drugged-up cry baby!"

Jess snapped her head back to him and narrowed her eyes darkly underneath her glasses, Nick could tell she was really mad but before she could snap back Winston broke the argument.

"Hey guys…" he said drowsily. "Do you think I need a new walk?"

Jess gave her head a little shake and took her glaring eyes from Nick. "What?"

Winston stared at the TV thoughtfully, "Look at Bruce walk…strong, confident…even the crazy terrorists have it…" he paused. "I think I need a new walk."

Winston had clearly either chose to ignore Nick and Jess sniping match or was so out of it he just fazed them out. Nick was more inclined to go for the second option.

"So you're saying you wanna walk like a terrorist?" Nick asked sarcastically.

Jess shook her head and shot Nick another nasty look but Winston didn't respond, he was too busy staring at the screen intently.

"Man walks like a damn god…" he muttered to himself.

Jess heaved herself off the couch, "On that note I'm going to get ready for bed."

Nick sat up immediately. "What? Wh…you're coming back right?"

Nick couldn't hide the desperation in his voice; he couldn't let that ridiculous childish argument be how the day ended between them. Jess turned back to him and despite still being mad at him she did get a kick out of the evident worry in his voice.

Unable to stop the small smile forming on her face she said, "Relax Miller. I'm just going to slip into something more comfortable."

Nick grinned at her use of the usually sexually seductive phrase knowing her meaning was literal and she would return in her comfortably oversized pyjamas. He was also relieved that she was coming back at all.

"Do you want us to pause the movie?" he asked.

Jess shook her head, "I think I got it. The bad guys show up, only John McClane can say the day…lots of guns and blood and yippee ki-yay motherfuckers! The end."

Nick laughed; pleased lightness seemed to have returned between them. "That's about it Day."

Jess laughed and turned to her bedroom. Nick waited until he heard the door click shut and turned to Winston who was still staring transfixed at the TV, most likely assessing people's walks but was snapped from his daze by a sudden sharp pain at the back of his head.

"Ow! Nick…What the hell?" he asked rubbing his head as he turned to face Nick.

"Me? What the hell are you doing Winston?" Nick hissed at him.

"What?" Winston asked genuinely confused.

Nick glared at him, "I told you I wanted to talk to Jess, that I'd been freaking out all day but no you seemed to think it was the perfect time for a damn Die Hard marathon!"

Winston stared at him for a moment still confused when realisation hit him. "Ohhhh…so you didn't wanna watch Die Hard 3?"

"Of course not ya idiot!" Nick growled.

"Do you wanna watch something else?" Winston asked. "Schmidt just got Lethal Weapon on Blu-Ray…"

"I don't wanna watch Lethal Weapon or Die Hard or anything Winston!" Nick growled, his hands clenched tighly.

"Oh ok." Winston said quietly, finally seeming to understand what Nick meant. "Sorry man…it's just with Bucky and Daisy…"

"I know, I know." Nick snapped, he couldn't listen to another emotional Winston monologue. "Look just do me a favour ok?"

Winston nodded. "Sure."

"Go away." Nick said simply.

Winston nodded again and stood up but Nick yanked him back down.

"Nick? What the…" Winston mumbled.

"Not yet." Nick said casting a look towards Jess till closed door. "Wait till Jess comes back then make an excuse, say you're tired or whatever then go."

"Why?" Winston asked with a small yawn. He suddenly felt incredibly tired, bed actually sounded like a pretty good idea right now.

"Because I don't want Jess to think I made you leave." Nick replied.

"But you are?" Winston asked.

"Yep." Nick said with a nod.

Winston rubbed his hand against his forehead, he suddenly didn't feel so great, maybe the pills and beer were finally catching up with him. He heard the sound of Jess door opening and the soft pad of her feet as she returned to join them on the couch. She was, as Nick had predicted, in her extra-large comfy blue striped pyjamas and dark pink robe. She still had her glasses on and her hair fell messily around her face and although Nick couldn't be sure, it look as though she had re-done her makeup, nothing over the top just a little, her lips looked darker and her cheeks rosy.

She smiled brightly as she resumed her seat beside Winston. "So what I miss? Blood, explosions and some not at all stereotypical 90s European super-villains?"

Nick smiled back, "You forgot the super-realistic and walk away without a scratch car chases."

Jess laughed and settled into the softness of the couch, she looked to Winston whose face had fallen into an expression of deep concentration.

"Winston you ok?" she asked.

Winston looked straight at Nick and then stood up immediately. "I have to go to bed now."

Nick rolled his eyes, so much for subtle he thought.

Jess looked confused, "But you wanted to watch this, come on stay." She said tugging on his elbow forcing him to sit back down.

Nick shot a dark warning look to Winston and he jumped right back up again.

"I'm very tired." He said simply in a robotic like manner. "I need to go to bed."

"Winston…" Jess protested.

"Jessica let the poor guy go to bed if he wants!" Nick yelled.

"Ok, ok." Jess said sensing she was missing something here. "Well g'night Winston."

But Winston remained where he stood and didn't say a word. Slowly he raised his hands to his mouth, his face contorted into a painful expression.

"I don't feel so good…" he mumbled.

"You'll feel better once you sleep it off." Nick muttered but then he looked to Winston and noticed the green tinge to his skin. "Winston…"

Winston's body lurched forward and he made a horrific gaging sound, hand still clasped tightly over his mouth.

Nick jumped up, "Winston, bathroom, now!"

Winston sprinted immediately towards the bathroom and as soon as he disappeared into the room Nick and Jess heard the horrendous and painful retching sounds as he was violently sick, sobbing intermittently between heaving and vomiting.

Nick shuddered, "Eurgh."

He turned to Jess who was sitting with her knees bunched up to her chest and her fingers firmly in her ears, she hated people being sick. Nick on the other hand was pretty much immune to it; it was just another part of his glamorous career choice.

Nick moved closer to her and pulled her hands down, "Jess…"

"Nickkkkkkkkkkkkkk!" an anguished voice cried from the bathroom before vomiting again. "Nick…come help me!"

"What the hell am I supposed to do?" Nick yelled down the hallway.

"Help! Ho…" Winston was sick again, "Hold my hair back!"

Nick roller his eyes and snapped, "You don't have any hair Winston!"

"Just hold me man!" Winston pleaded between the sounds of quite painful gagging.

Nick shuddered again and Jess let out a small giggle.

"I better go deal with _that_." He said pointing over his shoulder as he turned towards the bathroom.

Jess nodded, "Yeah I guess I should go to bed."

Nick spun back to Jess, his eyes wide in panic, "No!" he yelled. "Wait, just…stay…please…"

Jess sighed, "Nick it's been a_ really _long few days and I'm pretty tired. Can we just do this tomorrow?"

"Ok." Nick said with a small nod and turned to leave once more.

Nick was exhausted too and he knew that they both needed sleep, maybe this wasn't the best time for their big talk, they had already spent most of the night snapping at each other. But Nick was terrified it he didn't say something now then this strange tension and unsettledness between them would just continue to grow and Nick wouldn't be able to fix it.

He stopped and turned back to Jess. "No Jess we can't do this tomorrow."

Jess looked up at him confused, "Ok…why not?"

"Because tomorrow's only going to be worse than today and let's face it today's been pretty crappy." He said.

"Nick…" Jess said, her voice tired.

But Nick cut her off, "No Jess wait. It started out good, after the wedding and at the beach things were good but…it's all just gone to pot." He paused. "And I hate it Jess, I hate that it feels weird and awkward and I don't know what to do…I don't know when I'm allowed to kiss you or hold your hand or…"

"Nickkkkkkkkkkkk!" Winston cried from the bathroom.

"In a minute!" Nick roared over his shoulder then looked back to Jess. "And I know most of it's me Jess, I suck at all this…"

Jess looked up; her eyes began to glaze with tears, her mind flashing back to a similar heart-wrenching talk between them only 24 hours before in the hotel. She was terrified to where Nick was going with this.

"But I don't wanna mess this up…I can't…I'm in Jess, I'm all in…" Nick said firmly as he looked Jess straight in the eyes. "And I just wanted to tell you that."

Jess just stared at him, eyes wide in total shock, processing what he had just said to her. Nick didn't say another word or wait for Jess to respond, he just turned away and headed to tend to a crying Winston in the bathroom.

* * *

A little over twenty minutes later and Nick had finally peeled a sobbing Winston body off the bathroom floor and put him to bed but not without first having to shower and change him. That was something Nick hoped Winston wouldn't remember and Nick would do his very best to erase from his memory. Nick pulled the covers up around Winston and he let out a pained groaned.

Nick looked down at his friend, "You alright? Are you gunna throw up again?"

Winton closed his eyes and winced as he shook his head furiously. "No. I don't think there's anything left."

Nick nodded, that he agreed with, he hadn't seen someone be so violently sick in a long time, maybe even as far back as when he bartended in college. Nick had decided alcohol and pain medication were definitely not a good combination.

Winston shifted his body again and groaned uncomfortably, "Hey Nick…I'm sorry about tonight man."

Nick shrugged, "Don't worry about it."

"Did you get a chance to talk to Jess?" Winston asked, parts of the night were slowly beginning to come back to him, if maybe a little hazy and confused.

Nick made a tired turtle face, "Sorta…I kinda talked _at _her." He sighed and rubbed his hand down his face. "I think I mighta freaked her out."

Winston opened his eyes a little wider and raised his head slightly off his pillow, "So you told her?"

Nick's face fell into a confused look, "Told her what?"

"That you're in love with her." Winston said simply resting his head back down.

Nick's eyes went wide in horror, "What? No, no I…I didn't…I don't…" he stammered as panic flooded his body. "I'm not…"

Despite his fragile and pained state Winston still managed a knowing smirk, "Sure man, whatever you say." He mumbled before he rolled away.

Nick stood there for a moment, Winston's words ringing in his head. He shook his head and turned to leave; acting on autopilot he lent down and switched off the lamp beside Winston's bed, instantly plunging the room into darkness.

Winston sat bolt upright immediately and near screamed, "Nick!"

"Sorry, sorry…" Nick muttered as he switched the lamp back on. "I forgot you were afraid of the dark."

"I am not afraid of the dark!" Winston snapped.

"Then I'll just turn this light off…" Nick said as he bent down slowly.

"No!" Winston cried. "You can't leave a sick person in the dark, its dangerous. Everybody knows that!"

Nick rolled his eyes, "Sure, sure…" headed towards the door. "Night fraidy cat."

Nick made his way silently down the hallway to the living room and tried to prepare himself to face Jess but he just couldn't shake Winston's words. _You're in love with her. _Nick tried to push the words from his mind but he couldn't, he felt a strange mixture of fear, panic and something else rush through him, something that he couldn't quite place.

He took a deep breath as he finally stepped into the living room only to find it deserted. He looked around, the TV and nearly all the lights were off, the bottles and pizza boxes had been cleared away and there was no sign of Jess anywhere. Nick ran his hand down his tired face, maybe she had just gone to bed, she had already told him how tired she was but Nick felt that horrible sinking feeling in his stomach as he stood in the empty room. It was more likely she was hiding from him; he'd probably scared her away with his rambling monologue. Jess had always said she wanted Nick to say how he felt but now he was scared he had said too much.

Nick turned and shuffled slowly back into the hall when he remembered Jess words from the car this morning when he had experienced his first freak out of the day, _I think this could be the start of something…amazing. I told you I don't wanna give up on this. _If she didn't want to give up on this why hadn't she waited for him? She had been the one who said they needed to talk in the first place; maybe what Nick said had changed her mind.

Then suddenly he was standing outside her bedroom door, standing so close his head was almost resting against it. Nick could hear no sounds or movements from within. Nick decided to let her sleep.

"Maybe tomorrow Miller." He said quietly before he turned to his own bedroom.

Nick opened his door and found the room was bathed in a warm glow of light from his own bedside lamp.

"Well you certainly took your time." A soft voice called from the bed.

* * *

Nick nearly let out his trademark panicked scream at the unexpected sight before him. Jessica Day sat on the edge of his bed, glasses gone, legs crossed and no longer in her comfy oversized pyjamas. Or to be more accurate no longer in all of them, the baggy bottoms were gone completely and the shirt was unbuttoned so low it was really of little use. Nick felt himself actually gulp as his eyes roamed over her, taking in her exposed skin; he suddenly felt a desperate need to rip those final few shirt buttons open.

Nick cleared his throat and tried to steady himself, "Jess…hi…you're…I thought you'd gone to bed."

Jess grinned and shot a quick glance over her shoulder to Nick's still unmade bed. "I have."

Nick let out a small nervous laugh, "Ha yeah I…I meant your bed."

Jess grin fell, she suddenly looked nervous and unsure, "Oh…I…" she tugged her pyjama shirt down a little further. "Do you want me to go?"

Nick looked at her horrified that had to be without a doubt the most ridiculous question she had ever asked him.

"Are you crazy? Of course I don't want you to go!" he said incredulously. "Not when you're sitting there like…_that." _he said pointing at her.

Jess felt her nerves fade a little at his flustered response and slowly rose to her feet. "Then what's the problem Miller?" she asked in a low voice as she moved towards Nick.

Nick felt his body stiffen, "The problem is _Day _that I have no idea what I'm supposed to do here."

Jess let out a small snigger. "You seemed to do fine the other night."

Nick rolled his eyes, "Not _that_ Jess, I know how to do _that_ and it was damn well better than fine!"

Jess laughed louder at his increasingly frustrated behaviour as she came to stand in front of him. Nick gulped again as she moved her hands forward and pulled the zipper of his hoodie down and slowly pushed it off his shoulders. Jess traced one hand up his hard chest as she moved her head upwards, Nick felt himself tense where he stood as her lips moved against his neck.

"Jess…we…" he murmured as one hand fell instinctively to her waist.

Nick gripped her tightly as Jess pushed her body closer against his and moved her delicate kisses across his neck and jawline. Nick could feel himself buckling under her movements, one voice in his head reminded him they still needed to talk whilst another practically yelled at him to shut up and throw her on the bed. Nick gave his head and small shake and moved his hands to Jess shoulders and pulled her back.

"Jess, we need to talk." He said as firmly as he could manage.

Jess shook her head, "Not now."

Jess moved forward but Nick held her back as though she was some dangerous creature.

"Yes now." He said. "You were the one who wanted to talk, your text…"

He began but didn't finish as Jess struggled free from his grasp.

"I know and we do…or we did, but…" She said raising her hand to her head. "Look Nick this is the third time in 24 hours I have practically thrown myself at you and you're saying you wanna _talk_ right now?"

Nick couldn't bring himself to speak, the angry voice in his head was screaming that he was an idiot but Nick nodded yes.

Jess let out a frustrated sigh and sat back down on the bed. "You're an idiot." She snapped folding her arms, in agreement with the voice in Nick's head.

Nick glared at her, "Maybe I am but I told you I wanna figure this out Jess. I don't want it to be weird or awkward or…"

"Well guess what Nick it is! We're friends_ and _roommates; of course it's going to be weird and awkward and everything else!" Jess yelled. "It's not suddenly all going to magically just fall into place and work itself out overnight."

Nick stared at her but didn't say anything.

"It's gunna be hard and things are going to be different but it's also going be new and fun and exciting…" she said looking up at him. "And talking about it isn't going to change that, we've just gotta figure it out as we go."

Nick listened to Jess words; she was asking him not to overthink things (as he had been obsessively doing all day). She was asking him to do the one thing Nick Miller was usually too terrified to do, to jump in not knowing how it would end.

"So basically you're saying we should wing it?" Nick asked with a half-smile.

Jess stood up again, she knew she had won hell she had won the moment Nick chased her out of the hotel.

"Exactly. I'm tired of thinking through every little thing Nick. No more thinking, no more talking…let's just go for it and enjoy the summer…" she said walking towards him again. "And who doesn't want a summer romance?"

Nick looked down at her as she stood before him, "And what happens when the summers over?"

Jess shrugged lightly causing the already loosely buttoned shirt to fall, exposing her bare shoulder and collarbone. Nick nearly lost all control right there.

"Who knows…" Jess said softly. "But I'm up for finding out if you are Miller?"

Nick didn't answer her; instead he grabbed her roughly by the waist and threw her over his shoulder. Jess squealed excitedly as Nick carried her fireman's style the few paces to the bed before he tossed her down on the unmade covers.

"Nick!" she cried unable not to giggle as she lay up looking at him.

Nick climbed onto the bed and hovered his body over hers, resting on his elbows. "No more talking..." He said as one hand moved to Jess night shirt and slowly undid the remaining buttons. "…no more thinking…" He said as he pulled her shirt open. "It's time for…_busting_."

"Finally." Jess grinned before she reached up and pulled his face down to hers.

Jess moaned as Nick's lips met her own, her hands fisted into his hair as she tried to draw his body closer onto hers. In a second all fears and worries as well as the laughter and teasing evaporated rom the room, instantly replaced with intense desire and heat. Clothes were removed in a flash of hurried movements, bodies crashed together, hands clutched desperately and they completely, blissfully lost themselves in one another.

* * *

Later as exhaustion finally won out against their desire they collapsed together in a tangled mess of limbs and satisfied breaths.

Nick could feel the lids of his eyes slowly begin to fall as sleep chased him; he let out a content sigh as he held Jess in his arms, his arms wrapped possessively around her as she rested her back against his chest. He was pretty sure she had already fallen asleep; he could feel the soft and even movement of her breathing. Before his own sleep came he lightly brushed her dark curls away and placed a soft kiss against her shoulder. Nick rested his head back against his pillow and closed his eyes.

"Nick?" Jess voice called quietly in the dark.

"Mmmm." Nick replied.

"I'm all in too." She whispered back, shuffling herself closer into his arms.

Nick could almost hear the smile in her words. Nick didn't say anything, he tightened his arms around her, it was going to be one hell of a summer.


End file.
